Ice Cold Niagara
Snow covered viewing platform at the base of Niagara Falls, Canada.
Snow covered viewing platform at the base of Niagara Falls, Canada.
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Dec, 2015Views
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Contest Finalist in Unique Landscapes Photo Contest
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michaeltillman
August 27, 2016
That's truly amazing to say the least. i'm just thinking, the sound of the falls, and the spray. Great shot.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
Whenever people visit me in Toronto they often want to see Niagara Falls. A good friend had flown in from the UK in the middle of a particularly brutal few weeks of winter weather but didn't take much convincing that it was worth going for a mini road trip. As we walked along the pathway at the top of the falls the spray and mist was instantly freezing on contact with buildings, street lights and benches. I'd thought that maybe the viewing platform at the base of the falls would be open but it became quickly apparent that it was a pretty naive hope. Peering over the safety barrier from one lookout point I saw the the viewing platform emerge from the mist and snapped a few shots with different crops and compositions.Time
It was a totally grey day but there was enough low winter sunlight pushing through the clouds in the mid afternoon to show the mist and pick out the details on the rock face and viewing platform.Lighting
It was a totally grey day but there was enough low winter sunlight pushing through the clouds in the mid afternoon to show the mist and pick out the details on the rock face and viewing platform.Equipment
When i took this shot I'd only recently got back into photography and bought myself an entry level Pentax K50. This shot was taken with a Pentax DA 55-300. Its no where near the fanciest glass money can buy, the image quality it achieves for the cost is hard to beat.Inspiration
I'd been to Niagara Falls a few times during the summer and while i'd enjoyed taking photos there i hadn't captured anything i was particularly proud off. The chance to capture the power and magic of the falls during one of the coldest winters on record was too good to ignore.Editing
To bring out the details through the mist i played with shadows and highlights, it also allowed me to fade the mist to white on the left edge of the image.In my camera bag
I'm still growing my kit. I recently bought my first prime lens (DA 50mm F1.8) and a Samyang 16mm f2.0 wide angle lens to compliment my 18-55 and 55-300 kit lenses. Pushing myself to learn new techniques and understand what each lense can do makes sure i'm improving my photography every time i go out with my camera.Feedback
I can only share what i'm learning as i improve my own skill. The first thing I've learned is patience. Patience waiting for the mist to clear just enough, for wildlife to hold just the right pose, or waiting for the natural light to be just right. Secondly, I enjoy landscape photography most of all but I've learned to look within an epic view or location for the details that really make it stand out. Look up, look down, look inside. Don't just grab a shot of the whole thing.
